3 posts tagged “historical”
Doomed Queen Anne
By Carolyn Meyer
Gulliver Books Paperbacks (2004), Paperback, 256 pages
This book, Doomed Queen Anne, is about Anne Boleyn (aka second wife of Henry VIII, also a main character in The Other Boleyn Girl). It is interesting to read this, which has a lot of the same events as The Other Boleyn Girl, but from Anne's perspective. i.e. to Anne, Mary Boleyn is stuck-up and mean. Whereas in The Other Boleyn Girl, Mary is sweet and naive and Anne is scheming and evil.
Anyway. This book is also not very good. It is all basically a long narrative summary of events, and people tend to say stuff like, "Oh, haven't you heard? Cardinal Wolsey has just decreed that blah blah blah which will affect England's foreign policy with Spain blah blah blah was just made Supreme Chancellor blah blah..." like people just hang out all the time and talk about specific historic events to one another. And also (but this can't be helped due to historic fact) far too many characters are called either Anne or Mary or Jane.
Bottom line: Too much exposition and historical summary in lieu of character or plot development. A good choice for history buffs, ages 12-16 (more so for the younger end of this age range)
By Carolyn Meyer
Gulliver Books Paperbacks (2004), Paperback, 256 pages
This book, Doomed Queen Anne, is about Anne Boleyn (aka second wife of Henry VIII, also a main character in The Other Boleyn Girl). It is interesting to read this, which has a lot of the same events as The Other Boleyn Girl, but from Anne's perspective. i.e. to Anne, Mary Boleyn is stuck-up and mean. Whereas in The Other Boleyn Girl, Mary is sweet and naive and Anne is scheming and evil.
Anyway. This book is also not very good. It is all basically a long narrative summary of events, and people tend to say stuff like, "Oh, haven't you heard? Cardinal Wolsey has just decreed that blah blah blah which will affect England's foreign policy with Spain blah blah blah was just made Supreme Chancellor blah blah..." like people just hang out all the time and talk about specific historic events to one another. And also (but this can't be helped due to historic fact) far too many characters are called either Anne or Mary or Jane.
Bottom line: Too much exposition and historical summary in lieu of character or plot development. A good choice for history buffs, ages 12-16 (more so for the younger end of this age range)
The catcher in the rye
By JD Salinger
Little, Brown (1991), Mass Market Paperback, 214 pages
So, I guess this book is pretty good. What I liked most about it were some of the specific character moments Salinger wrote - like Holden randomly starting to tap-dance while his friend is shaving - these moments that seem so true to life.
My sister read this in high school, and all she remembers is that Holden is always whining about people being "phonies" which, to be fair, is a lot of what the book is about. I am not sure why this book is "controversial" and so frequently banned - possibly because Holden is anti-authority, and not a good role model? There is some swearing in the book, but Holden reacts negatively to it.
Oh, and I also really liked how people kept telling him to talk more quietly, which is a good "show not tell" detail about his personality.
And he is very strangely attached to his little sister, who is a sweet character, but all the same, that is all really kind of strange. I guess this is the whole "innocence lost" thing, but his frequent preoccupation with small children and their innocence is actually quite creepy. And also the whole thing where he stays at his teacher's apartment and he makes a pass at him - did Holden misinterpret that whole thing? Or is that just also creepy?
Anyway, so many authors were inspired by this book, and it's hard to remember that this is the first real first-person, sarcastic, unreliable narrator YA sort of book. And I read so many other books in this same genre, it is easy to see how other people have been inspired by this book. So, if this book didn't exist, then neither would books like Sloppy Firsts, Joe College, The Cheese Monkeys, Speak, and numerous others.
Bottom line: OK. A pretty good book. Not sure what the big deal is about this one. Good choice for teens, especially boys, ages maybe 14 and up?
By JD Salinger
Little, Brown (1991), Mass Market Paperback, 214 pages
So, I guess this book is pretty good. What I liked most about it were some of the specific character moments Salinger wrote - like Holden randomly starting to tap-dance while his friend is shaving - these moments that seem so true to life.
My sister read this in high school, and all she remembers is that Holden is always whining about people being "phonies" which, to be fair, is a lot of what the book is about. I am not sure why this book is "controversial" and so frequently banned - possibly because Holden is anti-authority, and not a good role model? There is some swearing in the book, but Holden reacts negatively to it.
Oh, and I also really liked how people kept telling him to talk more quietly, which is a good "show not tell" detail about his personality.
And he is very strangely attached to his little sister, who is a sweet character, but all the same, that is all really kind of strange. I guess this is the whole "innocence lost" thing, but his frequent preoccupation with small children and their innocence is actually quite creepy. And also the whole thing where he stays at his teacher's apartment and he makes a pass at him - did Holden misinterpret that whole thing? Or is that just also creepy?
Anyway, so many authors were inspired by this book, and it's hard to remember that this is the first real first-person, sarcastic, unreliable narrator YA sort of book. And I read so many other books in this same genre, it is easy to see how other people have been inspired by this book. So, if this book didn't exist, then neither would books like Sloppy Firsts, Joe College, The Cheese Monkeys, Speak, and numerous others.
Bottom line: OK. A pretty good book. Not sure what the big deal is about this one. Good choice for teens, especially boys, ages maybe 14 and up?
Marvel 1602
By Neil Gaiman
Marvel Comics (2005), Paperback, 248 pages
So, I just started reading this v. cool graphic novel by Neil Gaiman, Marvel 1602. Its premise is - what if all of the Marvel superheroes (i.e. The Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, Spiderman, some others I have not heard of) existed in Elizabethan-era England, and not modern-day? It is quite interesting. The X-Men are looked down upon as "witchbreed" and after Queen Elizabeth I is assassinated, the new king wants to put the kibosh on all "witchbreed."
I am about 1/3 of the way through right now. The main characters are Nick Fury and Stephen Strange, neither of whom I had heard of before, but who both seem very cool. Especially Nick Fury, who is like this spymaster guy. He and Strange, who is a magician, both fit in really neatly into the Elizabethan-era world.
Anyway, so I think I would probably appreciate this more if I knew more about superheroes, so I could be like - oh, that's that guy - instead of like, well, here is a character who runs very fast. He is probably a version of some superhero I do not know. Anyway, it is v. cool and apparently there is at least one sequel, so I am psyched for that.
Bottom line: This book is so great! I think that die-hard comic book fans would really like this, but someone like me (who saw the first X-Men movie, and the Spiderman movie, and that is all I know about Marvel superheroes) would like it too! I'd say ages 14 and up, although younger kids who are really into Marvel comics would like it too. Fusing the superhero mythology with the Elizabethan time period is so clever!
By Neil Gaiman
Marvel Comics (2005), Paperback, 248 pages
So, I just started reading this v. cool graphic novel by Neil Gaiman, Marvel 1602. Its premise is - what if all of the Marvel superheroes (i.e. The Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, Spiderman, some others I have not heard of) existed in Elizabethan-era England, and not modern-day? It is quite interesting. The X-Men are looked down upon as "witchbreed" and after Queen Elizabeth I is assassinated, the new king wants to put the kibosh on all "witchbreed."
I am about 1/3 of the way through right now. The main characters are Nick Fury and Stephen Strange, neither of whom I had heard of before, but who both seem very cool. Especially Nick Fury, who is like this spymaster guy. He and Strange, who is a magician, both fit in really neatly into the Elizabethan-era world.
Anyway, so I think I would probably appreciate this more if I knew more about superheroes, so I could be like - oh, that's that guy - instead of like, well, here is a character who runs very fast. He is probably a version of some superhero I do not know. Anyway, it is v. cool and apparently there is at least one sequel, so I am psyched for that.
Bottom line: This book is so great! I think that die-hard comic book fans would really like this, but someone like me (who saw the first X-Men movie, and the Spiderman movie, and that is all I know about Marvel superheroes) would like it too! I'd say ages 14 and up, although younger kids who are really into Marvel comics would like it too. Fusing the superhero mythology with the Elizabethan time period is so clever!
